Paster tabs

ABSTRACT

A paster tab for effectively securing the free end of a reel of paper, film, foil or like material to the body of the reel to prevent unwinding of the reel even when rotated at speed, but which is shaped in such a manner that it can be readily torn away to release the end of the material on splicing it to the expiring end of a web of similar material being fed or drawn continuously into a printing press or other machine.

United States Patent 1191 Baker 14 1 Apr. 3, 1973 [54] PASTER TABS FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS 1 1 lnvemorl NW1 John Baker London England 734,478 4/1943 Gennany ..242/5s.s [73] Assignee: Witton-James Limited, Wembley 422,211 1/1935 Great Britain ..242/58.5

England Primary Examiner-Donald A. Griffin 22 F l d: M 10 1 71 l l l e ay 9 Attorney-Kirschstein, Kirschstein, Ottinger & Frank [21] Appl. No.: 141,703

[57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl. ..24/67 AR, 242/586 A pasta tab for effectively Securing the free end of a [51] Int. Cl ..B42f 1/00, B65h 19/26 reel of paper film foil or like material to the body of [58] Field of Search ...206/59 R; 24/67 AR; 242/585 the reel to prevent unwlndlng of the reel even when [56] Reerences Cited rotated at speed, but which is shaped in such a manner that it can be readily torn away to release the end of UNITED STATES PATENTS the material on splicing it to the expiring end of a web 2,167,810 8/1939 Mackley ..242/ss.5 of s ar ma eria being fed or drawn continuously 2,732,063 1/ 1956 Dedek et a1.... into a printing press or other machine. 3,138,476 6/1964 Phipps 3,231,949 2/1966 Phipps ..24l67 AR 5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PASTER TABS In equipment for handling two or more reels or rolls of a material, such as paper, film, foil or the like, from which a web of the material is fed or drawn into a converting or processing machine, for example a printing press or coating machine, means are commonly provided for enabling the nominal end of the expiring reel or rolls to be spliced to the leading ends of the succeeding reel or rolls at the normal running speed of the machine, thus avoiding the necessity to interrupt production as would be required if the splice had to be effected with the machine at rest or operating at considerably reduced speed.

To effect this join at speed in most applications it is necessary first to rotate the succeeding, or replacement reel as it is sometimes referred to, at a rate such that its peripheral speed matches the linear speed of the web of material passing from the expiring reel into the associated machine, and during this time the prepared leading end of the succeeding reel must be held down in an effective manner since the reel has to be rotated in that direction which would otherwise cause its end to unwind due to centrifugal and windage effects.

It is usual in such cases to secure the leading ends of the reels by one or more adhesive tabs, commonly known as paster tabs, which are attached to a respective reel across the leading end edge, being bonded both to the leading end region of the reel and the adjacent surface of the body of the reel. Such tabs, whilst being effective to prevent unwinding prior to the splicing operation, must, of course, also be capable of tearing or separating or pulling away from the body of the reel when the splice has been effected, to release the leading end of the reel and enable the material of the reel to be drawn from the reel by the expiring web.

Moreover, as well as fulfilling the above functions it is important for such tabs to be designed so that they can be manufactured simply, reliably and economically, and in addition they should be capable of easy application of a reel by a relatively unskilled operator.

According to the present invention a tearable paster tab for securing the leading end of a reel of material, such as paper, film, foil or the like, comprises a central portion arranged to be fixed to the leading end of said reel material, and two side portions arranged to project beyond the edge of said leading end when the central portion is fixed thereto for attachment to the body of the reel, the forward edge of the central portion being indented at its junction with the two side portions, and the rear edges of the two side portions being so inclined that the shortest distance between each of said rear edges and the respective indentation is less than the width of the tab material connecting each side portion to the central portion.

It will be understood that the forward edge of the central portion is that edge which faces towards the direction of rotation of the associated reel when the tab is fixed thereto in its operative position, the width of the tab material connecting each side portion to the central portion being measured parallel to said direction.

Such a tab can be constructed to have adequate tensile strength in the peripheral direction of the reel to secure the reel against unwinding prior to the splicing operation, whilst the provision of the indentations and the comparatively short distance between the indentations and the rear edge of the adjacent side portion ensures that the tab will tear relatively easily when the forward edge of the central portion is pulley away from the reel during a splicing operation.

Preferably the rear edge of each side portion is inclined at an angle of between 35 and 55 to the center line or axis of symmetry of the tab, that is to say the axis or line passing along the central portion which is disposed centrally between the side portions and lies parallel to the direction of movement of the tab when the latter is fixed in its normal operative position to a rotating reel.

Preferably also, the shortest distance between each of the rear edges of the side portions of the tab and the respective indentation is less than percent of the width of the tab material connecting each side portion to the central portion.

For carrying out a splicing operation the outer surface of the central portion of the tab, together with the adjacent part of the surface of the reel, is coated with a pressure-sensitive adhesive, which may be applied in situ as a non-drying adhesive, or may be in the form of a strip of self-adhering adhesive previously applied. Then at the time of splicing, following the acceleration of the reel until its peripheral speed matches the linear speed of the running web, the latter is brought in known manner into rolling contact with the adhesive on the I outer surface of the reel end tab by splicing or dabbing brushes or rollers, such that these surfaces become securely attached to the running web. The end part of the material of the reel and the central portion of the tab, are then pulled from the reel by the web, and therefore move in a direction tangential to their rotary movement before splicing. On the other hand the two side portions of the tab, which are attached to the body of the reel, continue with their former rotary motion and the result is to induce a shearing action of the tab along the weakest region between the indentations and the rear edges of the side portions. The initial tearing of the tab is facilitated by the indentations which provide between them at the forward end of the central portion a tongue which is readily lifted by the running web following its attachment thereto.

The back surface of the tab, that is to say the surface that is arranged to be applied to the reel, is conveniently coated adjacent the rear edge of the central portion and the front edges of the side portions, with a self-adhering pressure sensitive adhesive, Whereby said coated adjacent rear and front edges are easily fixed to said leading end and body respectively of the reel in the required operative position. Preferably the two side portions project beyond the forward edge of the central portion, which facilitates the application of the pressure sensitive adhesive to the back of the tab during manufacture, since two spaced parallel strips of adhesive can be applied to one side of a continuous ribbon of paper from which a plurality of tabs of this shape can be subsequently cut or stamped out so that the surface regions of each tab adjacent the rear edge of the central portion and the front edges of the side portions are coated with adhesive. I

One paster tab in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the tab before use,

FIG. 2 shows the tab in position on a reel, and

FIG. 3 shows the tab immediately following the splicing of the material of the reel to that of an expiring reel.

Referring first to FIG. 1, the tab 1, which is formed of paper, comprises a central portion 2 of approximately rectangular form and two similar side portions 3 projecting forwardly beyond the forward edge 4 of the central portion as shown.

The corners between the edge 4 and the adjacent edges 5 of the side portions 3 are formed with triangular indentations 6 so that the part of the central region adjoining the edge 4 effectively provides a forwardlyprojecting tongue 7.

The rear edge 8 of the two side portions slopes towards the respective side edge 9 of the central portion, in this case at an angle of approximately 45, so that the distance a between this edge and the apex of the adjacent indentation 6 is less than 75 percent of the width b of the web of paper joining the central and side portions.

The under-surface of the tab 1 is coated at the rear of the central portion 2 and the front edges of the two side portions 3 with transverse strips of a self-adhering pressure-sensitive adhesive as at 10, the adhesive being normally protected by a removable backing layer (not shown).

In use, following the removal of the backing layer from the tab, the rear end of the central portion 2 is affixed to the leading end 11 of a reel 12 of material such as paper (FIG. 2) by the respective strip of adhesive so that the two side portions 5 project beyond the leading end edge 13 of the material which in this case is cut to triangular form as shown, and the two side portions being fixed to the adjacent part of the surface of the material to prevent the material from unwinding when the reel is rotated on a reel-stand prior to being spliced to the web of the material of an expiring reel.

The exposed surface of the central portion including the tongue 7 are then coated with a non-drying adhesive as at 14, the adhesive being also applied in known manner to the surface of the reel adjacent the leading edge 13.

Then in use when a running reel has nearly expired the succeeding reel, fitted with one or more tabs 1 as previously described, is rotated until its peripheral speed is the same as the linear speed of the running web. At an appropriate instant the running web is pressed on to the adhesive 14 of each said tab by splicing or dabbing brushes or rollers, causing it to adhere to the running web. As the replacement reel continues to rotate the tongue and adjoining part of the central region are pulled outwards away from the reel by the moving web 15 in a direction tangential to their previous direction, this causing the tab to tear across the weakest regions from the apices of theindentations 6 as shown in FIG. 3, thereby enabling the leading end of the replacement reel to unwind, the latter then continuing as the running web.

It will be seen that although the tab can tear easily when the tongue 7 is pulled outwards away from the reel, the tab has a high degree of strength in the peripheral direction, sufficient to secure the reel from unwinding during its initial rotation. Moreover it is comparatively cheap to produce and is simple to apply 5 to a reel in its correct operative position. In a modification the tongue and adjoinin(g part of the central region of the tab may be pre-coate on the upper surface with a pressure sensitive self-adhering adhesive as used on the under-surface, thereby avoiding the need to apply an adhesive after attaching the tab to a reel.

In some cases rows of perforations or slits may extend across the narrowest part of the tab toassist the tearing of the strip in use, although this will tend to weaken the strip in the peripheral direction, and we have not found it to be necessary. Moreover, although the two side portions 3 in the embodiment described project for some distance beyond the tongue 7 this need not necessarily be the case and the tongue may also extend as far as or beyond the side portions providing an increased area for the adhesive 14. Other modifications are clearly possible.

I claim:

1. A tearable paster tab for securing the leading end of a roll of paper, film, foil or like material, comprising a central portion (2) having means for fixing to the leading end of said roll of material, and two side por tions (3) extending one from each side of the central portion and arranged to project beyond the edge of said leading end of the roll when the central portion is fixed thereto, said side portions having means for attachment to the body of the roll, wherein the forward edge of the central portion has at its junction with each of the two side portions a rearwardly extending indentation (6), and'the rear edges (8) of the two side portions are so inclined that the shortest distance (a) between each of said rear edges and the respective indentation is less than the distance (b) between each of said rear edges and the respective indentation measured in a direction substantially parallel to the center line of the tab.

2. A tearable paster tab according to claim 1 wherein the rear edge of each side portion is inclined to the center line of the tab at an angle of between 35 and 55.

3. A tearable paster tab according to claim 1 wherein the shortest distance between each of the rear edges of the side portions of the tab and the respective indentation is less than 75 percent of the distance between each of said rear edges and the respective indentation measured in a direction substantially parallel to said center line of the tab.

4. A tearable paster tab according to claim 1 wherein the back surface of the tab is coated adjacent the rear edge of the central portion and the front edges of the side portions, with a pressure sensitive adhesive whereby to provide said means for fixing the central and side portions to said leading end and body respectively of the roll.

5. A tearable paster tab according to claim 1 wherein the two side portions project beyond the forward edge of the central portion. 

1. A tearable paster tab for securing the leading end of a roll of paper, film, foil or like material, comprising a central portion (2) having means for fixing to the leading end of said roll of material, and two side portions (3) extending one from each side of the central portion and arranged to project beyond the edge of said leading end of the roll when the central portion is fixed thereto, said side portions having means for attachment to the body of the roll, wherein the forward edge of the central portion has at its junction with each of the two side portions a rearwardly extending indentation (6), and the rear edges (8) of the two side portions are so inclined that the shortest distance (a) between each of said rear edges and the respective indentation is less than the distance (b) between each of said rear edges and the respective indentation measured in a direction substantially parallel to the center line of the tab.
 2. A tearable paster tab according to claim 1 wherein the rear edge of each side portion is inclined to the center line of the tab at an angle of between 35* and 55*.
 3. A tearable paster tab according to claim 1 wherein the shortest distance between each of the rear edges of the side portions of the tab and the respective indentation is less than 75 percent of the distance between each of said rear edges and the respective indentation measured in a direction substantially parallel to said center line of the tab.
 4. A tearable paster tab according to claim 1 wherein the back surface of the tab is coated adjacent the rear edge of the central portion and the front edges of the side portions, with a pressure sensitive adhesive whereby to provide said means for fixing the central and side portions to said leading end and body respectively of the roll.
 5. A tearable paster tab according to claim 1 wherein the two side portions project beyond the forward edge of the central portion. 